Soundtrack For HBO Film BAD EDUCATION, With Music By Michael Abels, Available Now

WaterTower Music has announced the release of the soundtrack to the HBO film Bad Education, with music by Michael Abels (Get Out, Us). 

Inspired by true events, the film stars Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman and Academy Award winner Allison Janney. The story follows Frank Tassone (Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Janney) who reign over a popular Long Island school district on the verge of the nation’s top spot, spurring record college admissions and soaring property values. But when an embezzlement scheme surfaces that threatens to destroy all they’ve built, Frank is forced to maintain order and secrecy — by whatever means necessary.The Bad Education score, by composer Michael Abels, is a vital part of the film’s fabric; a brilliant and intense telling the story through his music.  https://www.hbo.com/movies/bad-education

“The score is an homage to great classical concert music, evoking the rigorous world of competitive academia, and its high level of training and discipline,” explained Abels about his approach to the composition. “But as this structured world begins to unravel in the film, the score also includes stark, minimalist cues driven primarily by percussion.

”The soundtrack to the HBO film Bad Education, with music by Michael Abels is now available digitally. The track list is as follows:

1. Ave Noster Redemptor 
2. Book Club 
3. Eye Contact 
4. Shopping Spree 
5. Come Quick 
6. Frank the Fixer, Pt. 1 
7. Eye Contact (Appassionato Alternate) 
8. Frank the Fixer, Pt. 2 
9. Rachel Ruminates 
10. How the Mighty Have Fallen 
11. Unraveling Air 
12. The Downfall 
13. History as it Should Have Been

Michael Abels is a composer/producer best known for his scores for writer/director Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning film GET OUT, and highly anticipated follow-up US, for which Abels was awarded “Discovery of the Year” at the 2019 World Soundtrack Awards. Abels’ score for US was also shortlisted for the 2020 Oscars, received a Critics’ Choice nomination, an NAACP Image Award nomination, multiple critics’ awards, and was named “Score of the Decade” by online publication The Wrap.  As a concert composer, Abels has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, and the Sphinx Organization, among others.  His orchestral works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and many more.  As guest conductor of GET OUT IN CONCERT, Abels has led orchestras including National Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.  Several of his orchestral works have been recorded by the Chicago Sinfonietta on the Cedille label, including Delights & Dances and Global Warming.  Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, game and streaming media.  Abels’ first ballet, FALLING SKY, commissioned by Butler University, premiered on February 6, 2020. Following its Toronto International Film Festival 2019 premiere, the Hugh Jackman film BAD EDUCATION will premiere on HBO on April 25, with the soundtrack set to be released through WaterTower Music.  The film ALL DAY AND A NIGHT, written and directed by Black Panther scribe Joe Robert Cole, starring Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) and Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), will stream on Netflix from May 1st.  Upcoming projects include a diverse mix of concert work, film, and an opera.